Pat's story
Despite only spotting blood in her urine once, Pat Butson (75), from Haddington, decided to go to her local GP Practice to get checked. She’s so glad that she did as her GP immediately referred her for blood tests and further examinations which revealed she had bladder cancer. Thanks to this early detection, Pat is now living life well again and encouraging others to get checked as early as possible, no matter how minor or insignificant symptoms may seem.
“In July 2022, we had just moved into our new house when I spotted blood in my urine. I had absolutely no symptoms other than this one-off experience of blood in my urine, so it was very tempting to ignore it, but I am so glad I didn’t. I took a deep breath and phoned my GP practice. She was brilliant and immediately arranged blood tests and informed me that the blood could be a symptom of a urinary tract infection but that it could also be a sign of bladder cancer. She referred me for a flexible cystoscopy to examine the inside of my bladder. This revealed that I did, in fact, have a small tumour in my bladder and I was promptly referred for surgery to remove it.
“Thanks to detecting the cancer early, the tumour hadn’t penetrated the bladder wall, a strong indication that it was unlikely to have spread to the rest of my body. I was able to have an operation which only needed an overnight stay in hospital and I was discharged the following day. It was very straight forward and I had no pain or side effects following surgery. For many people, including a good friend of mine, that is the end of treatment and the cancer never returns. Unfortunately, I was not quite so lucky, I was told I had an aggressive strain of cancer which was highly likely to return. At the first review meeting with my consultant, he recommended a radical cystectomy (ie removal of the bladder and insertion of a stoma for urine). Because the disease had not penetrated the bladder wall, he said that this would give me a 90% chance of remaining cancer free. So once again, early diagnosis and prompt treatment were key.
“The prospect of losing my bladder came as a huge shock, but the consultant was very patient in helping me to access and understand as much information as possible in order to make an informed decision. I duly had my bladder removed early in 2023 and have never doubted that this was the right decision for me. Obviously, it was a major operation, but robotic surgery meant that it was far less invasive than conventional surgery. I was in hospital for a week afterwards but was virtually pain free and, by day three, I was able to shower independently, walk around the ward and I started to get my appetite back.
“It took a few months to get my energy back, and living with a stoma takes a bit of getting used to. However, ultimately, it’s a life saver and doesn’t prevent me from doing anything I did before. I’ve had several scans and blood tests and everything indicates that I have remained completely cancer free for over 18 months. Because the cancer didn’t have time to spread beyond my bladder, I didn’t need chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and I don’t carry any day-to-day anxiety about the disease returning. At 75, I still swim, go the gym and walk an average of around 5 miles per day. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive about going away from home. However, since my surgery I have been on several holidays, including air travel and a cruise. With just a bit of thought and preplanning, it has all been fine.
“If you’ve got any symptoms or are worried about cancer, then I’d definitely recommend contacting your local GP practice and visiting getcheckearly.com.”